1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the invention relates to monitoring of persons. More specifically, the invention relates to such monitoring wherein at least one monitored person has a portable monitoring device attached thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Our society has been compelled to confine individuals as a result of their behavior which has been deemed unacceptable to the best interest of society. Historically, such confinement has occurred at centralized locations where numerous confinements occur simultaneously. It is expensive for society to maintain such centralized locations due primarily to construction cost, upkeep cost, supervisory personnel expense and medical care for the persons being confined. These persons being confined represent both those convicted of committing a crime as well as those accused of committing a crime, but awaiting trial.
Our society has begun to seek alternative means of confining those individuals convicted of committing a crime or accused of committing a crime while awaiting trial where those individuals are deemed to be non-violent. Parole, probation and house arrest programs have existed for some time and are being extensively utilized by the justice system for certain type of crimes.
Additionally, our society has recently made progress toward restricting the activities of certain habitual offenders of certain type of crimes even following completion of court appointed sentences. These restrictions are coming in the form of civil actions as compared to criminal actions. Some circumstances require continued conventional confinement while others require site confinement or other monitoring of activities. Examples of such crimes include child molestation and other sex crimes.
People produce certain bodily signals which may be detected and measured by equipment. Examples of these bodily signals include blood pressure, heart beat rate, respiration rate, body temperature, blood oxygen level and blood alcohol level. Such bodily signals may be measured to determine a specific base line measurement for a respective person. Such base line measurements may then be redefined, if desired, on a periodic basis. Certain bodily functions, and therefore measurements taken thereof, vary depending upon the activity engaged in at the time of measurement. Therefore, such measurements will involuntarily change when the individual is engaging in activities which are generally prohibited to the population or specifically prohibited to the individual. The mere fact that a specific individual is aware that monitoring is occurring will tend to dissuade the individual from engaging in prohibited behavior.
Referring now specifically to site confinement, a common type of monitoring system, it is conventionally known to provide for such site confinement of individuals wherein means are provided within the respective system to indicate that a respective individual has violated boundaries of their respective site. Several of these systems include means to detect tampering with various elements of the system.
The most common type of such a site confinement system comprises three devices being a central processing unit, at least one transportable device and at least one base unit. The transportable device, which securely attaches to the individual being confined, comprises communication means to communicate with the base unit. The base unit, which is positioned within the boundaries of the confinement site, comprises two types of communication means. The first of the communication means allows the base unit to communicate with the transportable device. The second of the communication means allows the base unit to communicate with the central processing unit. Generally, this communication is over a ground based telephone system. When communication is not present between the transportable device and the base unit, the base unit, utilizing the second communication means, communicates with the central processing unit to notify an oversight authority of a possible violation of the confinement by the individual. As can readily be seen such systems have a general deficiency in that they are bound to a single designated site location. Several systems have been proposed which allow for a wider tracking of individuals.
As can be seen various attempts have been made to provide for a method of restricting the activities of certain individuals. These attempts have been less efficient than desired. As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a system which may monitor at least one individual without relying upon limitations associated with site boundaries. The present invention substantially fulfills these needs.